Chapter 270 – The Shop Resumed Its Original Name
Chapter 270 The Shop Resumed Its Original Name
“Someone from the Qu Mansion cheated others and was caught by the Ministry of Justice. I don’t know if it’s true or not.” Liu Jingyu smiled and answered casually.
“Someone from the Qu Mansion cheated others? Is that true?” A lady who had never heard of this before widened her eyes in disbelief.
“I know about this matter. I heard that a servant of Vice Minister Qu’s Mansion cheated someone by selling their mansion’s shop to the person without authorization. This matter is still under investigation.” A lady with family members who worked in the Ministry of Justice heard about it, so she joined the topic.
“Why is the case handled by the Ministry of Justice? Is it that serious?” Another lady asked in confusion.
Yamen would usually take care of such fraud cases, and the most serious ones would be handled by the governor of the capital. But the Ministry of Justice took care of the case this time. Was this case that serious?
“I heard that it involved Duke Yu Mansion.” A lady said in a low voice. She had heard her elders talk about it.
“Duke Yu Mansion? This… This is indeed not a small matter. How dare Vice Minister Qu’s Mansion’s people do such a thing?” The surrounding young ladies took a deep breath. Duke Yu Mansion was once one of the top aristocratic families. Now, even if Duke Yu didn’t hold a position in the court, no one dared to underestimate him.
Some of the well-informed ones even heard that Duke Yu could be reinstated recently.
Since such a thing happened at such a juncture, it was natural that people would overthink. It was said that Duke Yu was implicated back then because someone set him up. But it had never been proved for so many years. Now that such a thing happened at the juncture when Duke Yu was going to be reinstated, it was no wonder that Yu Qian was caught by the Ministry of Justice.
Although noble ladies were usually weak, they could be sharp sometimes.
“Vice Minister Qu’s Mansion has caused so much trouble. None of the ladies in the Qu Mansion is good. Second Lady Qu entered Lord Jing Mansion, but I heard that Lord Jing didn’t care about her at all. He casually placed her in a corner of his mansion, and she was treated even worse than an ordinary singer. As for Third Lady Qu…”
The lady curled her lips with disdain. They were all friends with County Lady Jingyu, and most of them had a higher status than Qu Qiuyan, so they were scornful when talking about Qu Qiuyan. Everyone had heard about the matter between her and Lord Jing. Although it was a rumor, it was somewhat tenable.
Qu Qiuyan hadn’t gotten married yet, but she was already involved with Lord Jing. It meant that she would definitely enter Lord Jing Mansion. However, with her reputation and status, it was impossible for her to enter Lord Jing Mansion with a high position.
“I heard that Third Lady Qu had a private meeting with someone in Dabei Temple at night, and Old Lady Ji witnessed her doing. Moreover, at that time, someone set Fourth Lady Qu up, and Old Lady Ji was accidentally injured. It was caused by an old maid who served this Third Lady Qu. After that, the old maid committed suicide. But we are not idiots.”
A straightforward young lady said without qualms.
The ladies kept talking about it. But Liu Jingyu, who started the topic, was sitting with a smile and did not speak. She stood up, called a few maids to take away the previous desserts and replaced them with new and delicate ones.
After she was done, she came back and smiled at the group of young ladies. “Alright, let’s not talk about this anymore. It has nothing to do with us. Ladies, if you need anything, please tell me, and I’ll get someone to fetch it.”
Today, Liu Jingyu was the host, and they were now in Minister Liu’s House.
“County Lady Jingyu, it’s really kind of you. It is good enough.”
“We need nothing else, thank you.”
The ladies expressed their thanks to Liu Jingyu, and this topic was no longer discussed. Their attention returned to the things in front of them, and they forgot the case of the Qu Mansion quickly.
Of course, the matter of Qu Mansion had spread out silently. Whether it was Qu Caiyue, Qu Qiuyan, or Qu Moying, all the young ladies in Vice Minister Qu’s Mansion were notorious. Judging from the current situation, no one knew if they would get into trouble. The things related to Duke Yu could be really serious.
Was it really a coincidence, or was there someone behind it?
Did Vice Minister Qu’s Mansion take a side?
Yan Yujiao sat at the side, frowning even more. She looked very concerned.
The ladies who had been sitting around sat back in their previous seats. They no longer paid attention to Qu Mansion’s matter because Liu Jingyu changed the subject, but Yan Yujiao was still worried.
“Yujiao, sorry, I made a slip of the tongue just now and attracted their attention.” Liu Jingyu came over and apologized softly.
“It’s not your fault. Qu Mansion is indeed a disgraceful place.” Yan Yujiao said with a frown.
Just now, Liu Jingyu switched the topic to help her out, and Yan Yujiao had seen it all.
“Yujiao, your Second Brother will not have anything to do with this. Anyway, he does not intend to marry Fourth Lady Qu.” Seeing that she was still worried, Liu Jingyu comforted her in a low voice.
Yan Yujiao lowered her head and pinched the corner of her handkerchief, not saying a word.
“Does your Second Brother really want to…” Liu Jingyu said in surprise. But this time, she controlled her voice well and didn’t attract others’ attention.
“My Second Brother does have the intention, but my parents do not agree.” Yan Yujiao nodded, feeling extremely depressed. She thought her Second Brother was too rebellious to have such an idea. Her parents were pissed off.
“How could Second Young Master Yan have such an idea? Fourth Lady Qu used to be the fiancee of his good friend, Young Master Yongning!” Liu Jingyu asked in confusion.
Her words made Yan Yujiao feel more and more depressed and restless.
Young Master Yongning, Xu Lipeng, used to be the person she secretly liked. She thought Qu Moying was not worthy of him and did not like him. She had seen this handsome and extraordinary Xu Lipeng several times, and she had always wanted to marry him after he broke off his engagement with Qu Moying.
Unfortunately, although he had broken off the engagement, he was suspected and even engaged with another woman who had a bad reputation.
“My Second Brother temporarily lost his mind. He will think it over.” Yan Yujiao said gloomily.
Liu Jingyu leaned her head closer to Yan Yujiao and whispered to her, “Doesn’t your Second Brother listen to Young Master Xu the most? Can’t you ask Young Master Xu to persuade him?”
“Young Master Xu?” Yan Yujiao’s eyes lit up. This was indeed a solution, but she quickly shook her head. “But I have no chance to see him right now.”
Young Master Xu hadn’t been to their mansion since he broke off his engagement with Qu Moying.
“It doesn’t matter. You can write a letter in the name of your Second Brother and send it to Marquis Yongning’s Mansion.” Liu Jingyu continued.
It was a good idea. A faint blush appeared on Yan Yujiao’s face. She bit her lips. Thinking of writing a letter to Young Master Xu, she couldn’t calm down.
This was the first time she wrote to Young Master Xu.
Fortunately, it was in the name of her Second Brother. Otherwise, she would really be ashamed…
Liu Jingyu glanced at Yan Yujiao, a trace of ridicule flashing through her eyes. Yan Yujiao had always regarded her as a bosom friend, so how could she not understand Yan Yujiao’s feelings? A long time ago, Yan Yujiao had taken a fancy to Xu Lipeng, but at that time, Xu Lipeng wanted to fulfill the engagement with Qu Moying, and he had never looked at Yan Yujiao seriously.
Right now, it was just the right time for Yan Yujiao to do something!
As far as Liu Jingyu knew, Xu Lipeng had suffered a hidden loss back then…
In fact, it was not difficult to investigate the fraud case. Yu Qian insisted that it was Yu who sent people to tell him to do it, but in the end, he could not show any evidence.
As for Yu, she had evidence. She had been sick all this time and had never left her yard. Her personal manager Hai Lan could go in and out of the yard. However, according to the words of the old maid who was sent by Yu Qian and Hai Lan herself, Hai Lan casually answered the old maid’s question because the question was vague.
In fact, the two of them were not talking about the same thing.
That was even stranger. How could a shopkeeper have the guts to do such a thing? Moreover, the person who was cheated was Duchess Yu’s manager, and he was cheated because he wanted to find a suitable shop for Duchess Yu.
Did it have anything to do with Duke Yu?
Although the truth hadn’t been found out yet, it was clear that there must be something wrong with the shopkeeper. However, his testimony remained the same no matter how others asked him. In the end, the Ministry of Justice received an order to end this case quickly and cleanly to prevent other disputes from happening.
Therefore, Yu Qian was convicted. He was convicted and exiled to the border two thousand miles away.
Since the case was ended, the closed shop could be opened.
Early in the morning, Qu Moying reported the news to the Old Lady. Then, she brought some pastries newly made by the mansion to inspect the shop with Granny Miao and Yu Dong.
This shop had been closed for a few days, and many people knew about it because of the case. They would point at it when they walked by. The seal was removed last night. Not only the seal that the Ministry of Justice had put on was removed, but the old plaque with the shop name was also replaced. Last night, the new plaque with the new shop name had been hung up.
Its name was Yue’s Clothing Pavilion.
Some people did not understand what “Yue’s Clothing Pavilion” meant, but they knew the shop next to Yue’s Clothing Pavilion had just changed its original name to Yue’s Gold Pavilion. However, they did not know why this shop was renamed “Yue’s Clothing Pavilion”. Could it be that the two shops were owned by the same person? Did the two shops both belong to Vice Minister Qu’s Mansion?
Many people now knew that the shop that had been sealed previously belonged to Vice Minister Qu’s Mansion.
But the sealed one was a clothing shop, while the one next to it was a gold jewelry shop. Whether in terms of wealth or other aspects, the clothing shop could not compare with the gold jewelry shop.
Moreover, the gold jewelry shop also changed its name only recently.
The gold jewelry shop changed its name silently, so not many people knew about it. But after the matter that involved this clothing shop happened and caused a stir in the capital, many people had a lot of guesses after seeing its new name.
Some people who had lived in the capital for more than ten years found the name of the clothing shop familiar. After thinking about it carefully, they remembered that the clothing shop was named Yue’s Clothing Pavilion a long time ago, but it was changed later.
When Qu Moying came over, many people surrounded the plaque and pointed at it. Some people were saying that the shop’s name was not strange at all because it had been called Yue’s Clothing Pavilion once and had just resumed its original name.
Seeing Qu Moying and her people coming over, the passers-by all moved aside and watched as Qu Moying entered the shop with Granny Miao and Yu Dong on her both sides.
